17 more coronavirus deaths, 187 new cases in Maharashtra lockdown on till April 30

COVID-19 claimed 17 more victims in the state even as Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray extended the lockdown till April 30, officials said on Saturday.

The state also recorded 187 new positive cases.

The state's death toll has now touched 127 and the number of positive cases shot up from Friday's 1,574 to total 1761 today.

Among the victims are Mumbai's 12 including 4 women, two in Pune, and one each in Satara, Dhule and Malegaon, and majority of the victims suffered from other serious diseases like diabetes, hypertension, asthma or heart problems.

On the positive side, 208 patients have fully recovered and discharged, including two from Mumbai today.

As many as 38,800 persons are in home quarantine while another 4,964 are isolated in institutional quarantine facilities across the state.

A total of 4,641 teams have surveyed a population of over 1.70 million in the state to weed out potential cases and avoid spread.

The BrihanMumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) announced that it has set up 186 Coronavirus Care Centres, 11 Dedicated Coronavirus Health Centres and 26 Dedicated Coronavirus Hospitals in Mumbai, as per Centre's directives.

Mumbai's Dharavi -- Asia's biggest slum and the most congested locality on earth -- continued to cause concern with six new cases today, increasing the total to 28, besides five deaths, according to local civic officials.

Since Friday, the government has deployed the State Reserve Police Force (SRPF) in Dharavi to assist the Mumbai Police, besides flying drones to enforce strict lockdown in the region.

In view of the heavy population -- around 800,000 crammed in just 2.25 sq. kms area -- the BrihanMumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has taken up sanitization drives in a big way in Dharavi, though plans to completely "seal" the slum pocket are ruled out for the present.

Addressing the state this evening, Thackeray said it was imperative to extend the lockdown "minimum till April 30" in view of the prevailing circumstances and the increasing number of COVID-19 positive cases and casualties in the state.

"You take precautions, we will take responsibility for your safety," said Thackeray.

Referring to apprehensions in many quarters, he said all agricultural activities in the state are continuing as before.

"All essential supplies are also continuing as usual with the movement of vehicles and there will be no disruptions of any kind," he said.

He solicited people's cooperation in the "war against virus" since it had entered a decisive stage now and it was imperative to break its chain at all costs, for which the lockdown extension was essential.

"We have to break the virus chain and prevent its further spread. We must win the war against the virus at any cost. That should be our firm resolve," Thackeray said.

He said details of the protocols to be followed during the extended lockdown, besides the status of various pending examinations, would be announced later.

The BMC has so far declared 381 "containment zones" in the city to date as the number of new cases and casualties continue to mount.

The police and the BMC have shut down markets and other shops in several areas of Mumbai, and barricaded many parts of the city and suburbs to keep people indoors as all appeals to avoid crowding and maintaing social distancing have been ignored.